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October 2, 2013

In Life There's No Script — #10Lessons by Arif Khan

On September 28, 2013, I had the opportunity to revisit my alumni at MS University of Baroda. It was a last minute planned trip for attending our alumni reunion evening at Baroda. As I had the whole day's time with me, I decided to spend it with young minds at our University. I scripted 10 points on my iPhone the previous night and at morning just before getting off the train made a quick presentation with 10 one-liners. No gas, no long talks, just 10 lessons that I've learnt in the last 10 years since I came in Final Year B.Sc.

I presented the #10Lessons first to a batch of 45 TY B.Sc. Botany students with whom I had a great interaction. That was all I planned for but as things turned out, I ended up presenting this presentation at Biochemistry and Zoology Departments and till now I've presented it 10 times to audiences of various kinds totaling to approximately 250 students. Today, I'm sharing my #10Lessons here and you'll be my 251st. I hope you find it valuable and take it ahead by sharing among your social networks. (Thanks!)

Today, I'm going to share 10 lessons with you that I've learnt in my journey ever since I left University. There's nothing exceptionally new and most of the things you already know. I'm just putting all of them at one place here and some of you would be able to easily relate with them. These 10 lessons will also give you a glimpse of me, the person who I am as I practice all of them every single day.

Be yourself, come what may. | TweetIn your life, you'll come across many situations both ups and downs but whatever happens just be yourself. Your name is your identity and you have imbibed values from your parents, friends, society, organization and nation - never let that go as people recognize you for whom you are and what you stand for. Whatever happens, just be yourself and never give up.

Set your priorities and focus. | TweetToday, we all live in an interconnected world where it's so easy to share knowledge and communication at one click. It's not the same as it was at our time as kids. So, you should set priorities early in your lives. Decide what do you want to become after careful and repeated discussions with your close family members, friends and others who can guide you well. Once you have prioritized to achieve something then after that you should just focus, focus and focus to make it happen.

Think, ask, innovate. Don't be shallow. | TweetWhen we were small, we were always told that we have to score 10 out of 10. But, did that mean that those who scored 9, 8, 7, 5 or 3 were bad students? No. It could be that they were perhaps not strong in that particular subject but it certainly didn't mean they were dumb. We all have just learnt to recite and recite our way up. Today, this doesn't help. If you really want to do something start thinking and ask questions like why does a plant breathe out oxygen?; how does wireless signals work?; etc. Once you ask, then you gradually come up with some innovative solution. Not, innovation doesn't mean that everyone will make a flying care. Innovation can be the smallest of improvisations that you do in your daily work based on observation and experience. In all this, don't ever ask questions for the heck of it and to create an impression. It looks good while you're in school but trust me, once you're working outside, people do notice you. Ask questions when you genuinely have a doubt and don't just be shallow and waste everyone's time.

Be crazy, be the guy who solves problems. | TweetIn life, always be crazy about one thing that you really want to do, achieve, build or transform. It really helps in channelizing your passion into an actionable force which can do wonders! Steve Jobs thought that half of the QWERTY keypad on phones is a waste and therefore he came up with this crazy idea of completely removing it and replacing it with something which we all know as touch pad today. What was the result? Today, the iPhone is the most popular smartphone worldwide. Also, when someone asks you what do you want to become and people reply that they want to become a CEO of so and so company - that is not what you want to be, that is your final destination. If someone asks me what do I want to be known for then my straight answer would be "I want to solve problems". Now, as I'm in digital marketing so obviously I'm talking about problems in this area and likewise you will mention for your field. When you consistently stand up and solve problems, people do take a note of it and one day you'll be called for that big opportunity over qualified individuals. You know why? Because not everyone can solve problems, that's a big skill to develop from an early age. Do it.

Work to contribute, not to impress.| TweetWhen you're at school or work and are working in a team then always put the team before yourself. Never do something to impress someone and take credit alone. Work, because you genuinely like what you're doing and contribute to the overall business objective. Sometimes, you may not get credit for something that you initiated or where you put a lot of effort but don't let yourself down. Ultimately, good work does get recognized and creates a long lasting impression as a trustworthy team player. You will find that your colleagues feel more free to walk up to you and talk about almost anything and that's quite a big thing as when you need them, they'll be the first to lend you a helping hand.

Add value at work, to those around.| TweetThis is something that I practice by heart and comes naturally now. Whenever you're working, make sure you do something different then last time so that you're adding value. Don't just end up doing the same thing again and again as that will take you no where. And while you improvise at your work, make sure those colleague around you also get benefited from the project. You can always look up to them and ask "Hey, I think you got stuck at this last time. Would you like me to help you?". The moment you start adding value to those around you, your own learning curve goes upward and people trust you more as they find real value through your presence.

Welcome failures, never face rejections.| TweetOne of my favorite lessons here. In life, be open and welcome failures. Open and stretch your arms. Here, let's say success is the right arm and failure is the left. In the end, both are just different directions on the scale. Failing is never a bad thing as long as you quickly learn from your mistake and bounce back to achieve something even better. Along with this, never stop experimenting or trying out new ideas just because of the fear of facing a rejection. Learn to take risks at work, otherwise you'll never be able to take your company to No. 1 by introducing new practices first. Learn to think ahead of time and overcome possible failure by simulating the possibilities in your mind. Make it a habit and see how this lesson can be the most valuable of all. Try.

Do what you love and give back.| TweetIn life, do something that you really love and want to do. Once you do get an opportunity, consider yourself a little lucky and make sure you do that job like no other. I love digital marketing and I try to do new things with a lot of passion and commitment. Likewise, find your calling. And, once you have become the smallest of something, learn to give back. You don't have to wait till you become the CEO. You can go back to your school, college, university at any point of time and just interact and share your learning with students. Not many do it and when you do - they do value it. For them, that's a big thing really and trust me the spark that you see in their eyes can give you immense satisfaction.

Stay honest. Dream. Do. Live. Fly.| TweetStay honest. There are no two views about this. We all get a lot of short cut options but if you are honest and make it a habit then good companies do recognize you. A lot has been said about this and I won't add much here. Dream - you should dream a lot as whether it becomes true or not, it does give you a new perspective about several things. And, once in a while if you dreamt of something that you really want to accomplish, then just do it. Remember, in all this don't forget to watch that Friday movie with your friends and don't forget to take out your parents on a Sunday night dinner. You can work and earn a lot but if you forget to live, then it's all a waste. Time, will never come back and therefore live as much as you can. Finally, when you achieve success then it's perfectly fine to fly, i.e. have a small celebration with your closed ones. Enjoy yourself because you deserve it.

In life there's no script, live in the moment.| TweetAnd, the final lesson is that in life there is no script. As we grow, we see that what we course our own journey every single day. Rarely, does one have a linear career path as one would have planned 10 or 5 years ago. Today things are changing so fast that you simply can't exist on predefined scripts. You have to learn to live in the moment. Practice it so that it starts coming to you naturally.

I hope you found the presentation and these #10lessons valuable. Do share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below. I leave you with some early tweets around these lessons.

23 comments:

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A wonderful, motivational and inspirational presentation ever I have come through which lies on self-confidence and positivity in life. However I missed the presentation which you have presented 10 lessons for TY B.Sc. Botany students who have been taking editing services for dissertation also from the Academic experts of Quality Dissertation where they are also sharing useful blogs and tips based on academic writing tips for students and I am sure going to share this presentation with them so they also get inspiration about life.

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